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In cyberspace the Google mob may be masters of the
universe, but when it comes to Sydney air space the internet
heavyweight holds no sway.

Scores of Sydneysiders who took up Google's challenge to make a
spectacle of themselves in an aerial photo shoot staged over the
city on Australia Day are likely to be disappointed.

A plane chartered by Google to take the images never made it
over some of the designated areas or arrived hours later than
expected by which time, many of those who had been waiting
below had moved on.

The high-resolution images were to be added in about four
to six weeks' time to the popular online mapping service Google
Maps

But the flight plan was hastily changed on Friday morning after
Sydney air traffic control denied the twin-engine Aero Commander
permission to fly over parks and beaches in inner Sydney and the
east due to air safety concerns

Mr Terry O'Connor, a spokesman for Air Services Australia, which
oversees air traffic control, said that the pilot was warned when
the flight plans were lodged last week that it would be "very
difficult or impossible" to give the plane clearance to fly over
some of the proposed areas.

He said they were told the flight path would depend on air
traffic at the time.

Among those missing out on the photo opportunity of a lifetime
was a company that had spent $10,000-plus on a sign, an
environmental group which organised 200 supporters to form
themselves into a slogan on Bondi Beach and a man who drove from
Wollongong to Sydney with a message that he hoped would help win
back his estranged wife.

"The positive public response to this initiative has been
overwhelming and we are very grateful to everyone who took part,"
said Lars Rasmussen, the head of engineering at Google Australia.
"While we made every effort to capture as much as we could on the
day, unfortunately some people may be disappointed.

He said Google would shortly update a web
page to show where and when the plane had been able to take
high resolution imagery.

The Sydney flyover was to be the first time the internet giant
had attempted such an exercise on this scale. Usually photos are
taken without people being aware that it's happening.

The company promoted the event and put up a web
page giving Sydneysiders details of the flight and the
fly-zone and were encouraged to "hoist a sign, arrange your family
into a fun formation or just get a bunch of friends together to
wave".

And many heeded the call, eager to put themselves, their
company's logo or website or their particular cause on the map for
the world to see.

Among those missing out on the photo opportunity of a lifetime
was Sydney software consultant Adam Cogan.

He had spent $10,000 on a 50-metre sign featuring his company's
logo and website address and had organised 30 of his employees to
come along to Queens Park in Waverley on Friday morning and help
assemble the installation.

Google advised those at Queens Park to be ready around
8.45am-9.15am. Mr Cogan waited at Queens Park for the flyover until
about 4.30pm before giving up.

"Google have over-promised and under-delivered," Mr Cogan said.
"They should have sorted this out before creating the
expectation."

Air Services Australia's Mr O'Connor said prevailing winds on
Friday morning required commercial aircraft taking off from Sydney
Airport to take off over the eastern suburbs.

This meant that air traffic controllers had to deny permission
to the plane chartered by Google to undertake its scheduled
flight over Moore, Centennial and Queens parks and Bronte and Bondi
beaches.

"To allow them to do what they wanted, we would have had to
close the runway [at Sydney Airport]," Mr O'Connor said.

(According to Microsoft, a flight they sponsored for an official
Australia Day event obtained permission to fly over Centennial Park
at 11.20am on Friday and photographed people below who had formed
themselves into a map of Australia. The flight was flying at an
altitude of 2500m.)

After taking off from Bankstown Airport, the Google plane was
due to fly at an altitude of 600m over the inner east and out to
the coast before making its way up to the Northern Beaches. It was
later due to fly over the harbour to capture shots of the
Australia Day festivities.

According to the pilot, Daniel Lloyd, Sydney Air Traffic Control
prevented him from passing over the eastern suburbs in the morning.
He ended up "running up and down the coast" from Botany Bay to Long
Reef in the north from about 11am before flying over the harbour in
the afternoon.

Also missing out were people who had set up at Wentworth Park in
Ultimo. Andrew Clement set up a king-sized bedsheet on Friday
morning in the park with a sweetheart message that read "Andi 4
Sophie [his girlfriend]".

The Google site told people to be ready at that location between
11.30am and noon and Mr Clement waited until 3pm before leaving. He
was told that others had waited until 6pm for the aircraft.

Also at Wentworth Park were supporters of Verity Firth, the
Labor candidate for the state seat of Balmain, who had arranged
stacks of the candidate's posters to spell out the words: "Verity 4
Balmain". Ms Firth was hoping to claim the stunt as a "world first"
in political campaigning.

On Bondi Beach, where the plan was expected to pass overhead
between 9am and 9.30am, about 200 supporters of the Nature
Conservation Council of NSW had lain down in the sand to form the
words: "Vote Climate".

The group started assembling at the southern end of the
beach from 8am and at one stage saw the plane "fly peripherally"
past the beach.

"We ended up disbanding at about 10.15am," said the council's
Mithra Cox, "because some of us were getting really sunburnt."

The no-show over Queens Park also put a hole in Aaron Schwebel's
plans to put his marriage back on track.

The IT worker from Wollongong drove up to Queens Park on Friday
and spread out seven white queen-sized sheets with the letters AKS
(his initials) and KDS (his wife's initials) separated by a big red
heart.

He said the sign - Aaron Schwebel loves Karen Schwebel - was
meant as a message to his wife of four years who moved back to
Melbourne three weeks ago after their marriage broke down.

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